Mitrovic, Mirjana (54972086700)Mirjana (54972086700)MitrovicKostic, Tatjana (57190702347)Tatjana (57190702347)KosticVirijevic, Marijana (36969618100)Marijana (36969618100)VirijevicKaran-Djurasevic, Teodora (14035922800)Teodora (14035922800)Karan-DjurasevicSuvajdzic Vukovic, Nada (36446767400)Nada (36446767400)Suvajdzic VukovicPavlovic, Sonja (7006514877)Sonja (7006514877)PavlovicTosic, Natasa (15729686900)Natasa (15729686900)Tosic2025-07-022025-07-022020https://doi.org/10.1111/ijlh.13144https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85076445942&doi=10.1111%2fijlh.13144&partnerID=40&md5=64537ea49b74f05538746b08c9666390https://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/12627Introduction: Patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) are characterized by the highest expression of Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) gene compared with other subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia, and yet this molecular marker is almost never used for risk stratification and in therapy response monitoring. Methods: Quantitative assessment of Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) gene transcripts was performed using real-time PCR method. The bone marrow samples were collected at the time of diagnosis for 47 APL patients, and for 31/47 patients during follow-up/relapse of the disease (129 samples in total). We examined how this molecular marker can be used for prognosis and minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring. Results: Increased WT1 expression was found in 34% of patients. WT1high status was an independent unfavorable factor for early death occurrence and was associated with shorter overall survival (OS). Assessment of log reduction value of WT1 expression in paired diagnosis/complete remission samples did not reveal its impact on relapse rate, disease-free survival, and OS. Also, measurement of WT1 expression level at different time points during therapy was not a reliable method for MRD monitoring. Conclusion: Increased expression of WT1 gene detected in high proportion of APL patients could be considered as a marker for more precise risk stratification models in an attempt to further improve treatment and outcome of APL patients. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltdacute promyelocytic leukemiaminimal residual diseaseprognosisWT1 gene expression